Walter Piston (Violin Concerto No. 1)

The more I listen to Walter Piston's music, the more I feel that his name belongs high on the list of America's best composers. And I'm not afraid to use the word "well-crafted" to describe his orchestral and chamber works, because they are indeed masterly creations that show Piston's grasp of harmony and orchestration. What could possibly be wrong with this?
But Piston has also clearly demonstrated a penchant for memorable if not heart-penetrating melody, and this is true for just about any period of his writing. His first Violin Concerto from 1939 displays everything you could expect in terms of rhythmic vitality, harmonic invention, thrilling virtuosity and lyricism - each with their perfect places in time. Piston's biographer Howard Pollack says of Piston and his concerto, "It's as if Bach wrote the Tchaikovsky Concerto -- in America!" I couldn't agree more.

Performed by James Buswell (violin), National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, and Theodore Kuchar (conductor)

Images: Redwood National Park

Recorded along with Piston's second concerto (1960) and his Fantasia for Violin and Orchestra (1970) - Purchase here: http://www.amazon.com/Piston-Violin-C...